[[quoteright:256:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Superman64box_2446.jpg]][[caption-width-right:254:[-Enjoy this N64 Superman box art. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQ2UzTpXfpU It's far more entertaining than the game]]-].]]->''In short time your fate will be sealed, Superman.''

[[SelfDemonstratingArticle There's no time to waste!]] [[DescribeTopicHere Describe this atrocity of a game here.]]

''Superman'' (or ''The New Superman [[TyopOnTheCover Aventures]]'' [sic]), [[FanNickname unofficially referred to as]] ''[[FanNickname Superman 64]]'', is a video game based on ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' and released by TitusSoftware on May 31, 1999 on the {{Nintendo 64}}. It is notorious for the negative reception it received from critics and is considered one of the worst games of all time.

LexLuthor creates a virtual version of Metropolis and then succeeds in [[DamselInDistress trapping]] LoisLane, JimmyOlsen, and Professor [[DistressedDude Emil Hamilton]] within it. Superman is forced to enter Luthor's virtual world and [[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: [[Memetic Mutation SOLVE HIS MAZE ]].]] Other villains in the game include Parasite and Brainiac.

The player assumes the role of Superman and is challenged to complete puzzle obstacles throughout the game; usually levels contain similar challenges. In many levels, [[PassThroughTheRings Superman flies through a series of rings within a time limit]] (unless the player chooses to play the game on an easy difficulty; the rings then disappear but the timer remains the same). The "virtual Metropolis" is filled with what the [[HandWave developers called "Kryptonite fog"]] (which was actually the game's inability to render anything more than 10 feet away without being choppier than it already is), supposedly there to slow him down. Other levels feature Superman moving through buildings fighting various enemies and going out of his way to [[ChronicHeroSyndrome protect the virtual world's inhabitants.]] Oh, and every ring-based level is a TimedMission too.

----!!This game exhibits examples of:

* AWinnerIsYou* AllThereInTheManual: After a fashion. By default, your only hint of a storyline is the single intro screen you see when you start up the game. However, there's a menu option in the pause screen that gives you an extra paragraph of text, and the game came [[{{Feelies}} bundled with a comic book]] that explained the game's backstory in ''much'' more detail.* AntiFrustrationFeatures: The ring levels allow you to miss a few of the rings (equal to the number of rings that are gold). Also, if you fail a challenge after a ring level, you normally have to play the ring level again, but if you've already cleared the ring level 3 times, you can keep retrying the challenge indefinitely.* BigBad: Lex Luthor, who somehow manages to make ''{{Darkseid}}'' a subordinate.* CharmPerson: The "reprogrammation" (which is French for "reprogramming") ability. This takes a problematic turn, since you're ultimately [[CrueltyIsTheOnlyOption required to kill every enemy]] [[ShootTheDog to advance,]] [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves including the one you just converted]].--> "We're on the same side now!" * CheckpointStarvation: the maze levels have no checkpoints whatsoever; die at any point in a maze level and you must start over.* CowardlyBoss:** Brainiac in stage 4, Metallo in Stage 6.** Superman villains Jax-Ur and Bizarro appear in the game's tie-in comic and are implied to be involved in Lex Luthor's plan. Neither villain appears in the actual game, though a photo has surfaced of Bizarro in level 8, presumably originating from the game's development.* DamselInDistress: Lois Lane.* EasyModeMockery: The best ending is only available if you complete the game on the hardest difficulty. * FakeDifficulty: By the truckloads! Between bad controls and short draw distance, this game is hard for all the wrong reasons.** Special mention goes to level 6, where you must {{escort|Mission}} Lois from the end of the stage to the start. If you get too far away from Lois (i.e., she exits the game's hideously short draw distance) a new enemy spawns next to her and you have 15 seconds to go back to her.* FissionMailed: It's possible to make it so that [[MemeticMutation Lex Wins]], and then proceed into the next part of the stage. One example shown [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZOWibh__uQ#t=27m50s here]] has Superman intentionally fail by hitting a woman with a box, but she still walks to the finish if you wait a few minutes.* FloorboardFailure: Happens unintentionally sometimes, when Superman suddenly drops through the floor onto the base of the level. And when it does, you have to start the level over, since there's no way to get back up to the "floor"* FlyingBrick: Superman, and he sure controls like one too.* FromBadToWorse: ** The game is notorious for its unbelievable abuse of PassThroughTheRings, but that only covers the odd number levels, or "Ride Stages." What follows afterwards is a set of ridiculously cramped buildings with simply painful fighting mechanics.** Think the ring stages are bad now? Wait until you get to the ''ten minute'' long one. The '''most of the ten minutes are necessary''' long one.** Then there are ring stages where you fly around and literally loop back to where you started from. No, you can't just fly into the last ring either, you have to do it the old fashioned way.** Starting in the second ride stage, the rings actually start ''moving''. And they eventually move in rapid but small circles, making it even harder to fly through them.* FunnyBackgroundEvent: Done unintentionally. Cutscenes use the game's engine. As Superman flies out a window into the city and the screen fades to black, you can see him crash into the [[{{Skybox}} textured wall that depicts the skyline]].* GameBreakingBug:** In level 6 you must escort Lois to the start of the stage, where she will be ambushed by Metallo. Leave Lois to fight Metallo and--as usual--a Dark Shadow will spawn next to Lois. Normally the level ends when you kill Metallo. If you kill Metallo and a Dark Shadow is still around, the game glitches and the level doesn't end, forcing the player to restart.** The final level has a time-machine puzzle where Superman must travel through portals to adjust a number to the value 2000. This puzzle is heavily glitched and the player ''will'' drop dead at complete random. This glitch does not render completion impossible, but it does ''severely complicate'' completing the level.** Flying around Mala too much in her boss fight will either result in her falling through the floor or, possibly, the game ''removing her'', leaving the second level impossible to complete.* JamesBondage: Jimmy Olsen and Professor Emil Hamilton.* KaizoTrap: ** Under certain circumstances, you can still be killed in the "Superman Wins" end-of-level screen. ** You can also die ''in the cutscenes''. If you're in a room with Kryptonite, your health will keep draining. And draining. Until Lex wins.* KryptoniteIsEverywhere: The game has "Kryptonite fog" in every level, diminishing Superman's powers. Of course, it's just an in-game explanation for the severe distance fog that was supposed to mask the Nintendo 64's poor draw distance.* LimitedSpecialCollectorsUltimateEdition: There was a "Collector's Edition" of the game that came with a tie-in comic.* MadeOfExplodium: Pretty much everything in the game. Including innocent boxes!* MoralDissonance: Due to [[ObviousBeta a programming bug]], you can fly away from at least one mission involving saving people, and you'll ''win''.* NintendoHard: Not much of a surprise given how sloppy the game is...* NumberOfTheBeast: The total number of rings in Ride Stage 2 is 616. But this is likely a coincidence.* ObviousBeta:** There are so many glitches in this game that, despite its notoriety, no comprehensive list of them even exists.** Sadly, there's footage on Website/YouTube of an actual beta of the game. And it's arguably ''[[EpicFail better than the release product]]''. The producer of ''Superman 64'' primarily blamed it on the [[ExecutiveMeddling licensers digging their hands messily in the development of the game,]] and that apparently a massive amount of the code and assets had to be redone mere months, if not weeks, before release. With the ROM of the beta now available, the general consensus is that while the controls are only slightly better, the lack of rings and reduced occurrence of flight stopping glitches make the beta ''far'' more playable than the final product.* PassThroughTheRings: The "Ride Stage" odd number levels of the game. Believe it or not, these are the tolerable parts of the game.* SequenceBreaking: Thanks to the glitches in the game, some stages are possible to beat ''very'' quickly by skipping most of the levels.* ShaggyDogStory: [[spoiler:You defeated Lex in the virtual world... but the real Lex is still out there]].* SkippableBoss: It is possible to clear the [=LexCorp=] stage by ignoring Brainiac and going straight to reading all the notes on Luthor's desk.* TheSmurfettePrinciple: LetsPlay/ProtonJon suggests this is why Mala is included.* SuperTitle64Advance:** Despite the game being simply called ''Superman'' (or ''The New Superman [[strike:Adventures]] Aventures'' [sic]), it quickly became known as ''Superman 64'' to distinguish it from other Superman games.* SuspiciousVideoGameGenerosity: When in [=LexCorp=], you can find a health icon just before you fight Brainiac. This can be completely meaningless, as you can [[SkippableBoss skip Brainiac]] entirely by ignoring him.* [[TextlessAlbumCover Textless Video Game Cover]]: The North American front cover art simply displays Clark Kent ripping open his shirt to reveal his Superman suit underneath, with the title nowhere to be seen. The PAL version added the title.* TimedMission:** The ride stages are notorious, as are the mini-games between ring tunnels. The first mini-mission has a tight timelimit, which is barely enough time to react. There is also a timed mission where no timer is displayed, where you have to use super breath on three tornadoes.** Every single Maze level has a timed section as well; usually a timed puzzle on top of that.* TyopOnTheCover: ''[[RuleOfThree The New Superman Aventures]]'' [[[RunningGag sic]]]* UselessItem: In stage 6 it is possible to find an X-Ray vision power-up (the game only allows you to use Superman's powers after finding power-ups); as far as players can tell, using X-Ray vision does ''absolutely nothing''.* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: Exploiting a certain glitch allows you to punch Mala. Endlessly.* ViolationOfCommonSense:** One level requires Superman to prevent two cars from crashing into each other. One way that counts as success is to simply destroy both cars (they can't [[ExactWords crash into each other]] [[LiteralMinded if they can't move]]).** There's a level where you have to protect Lois from enemies as she marches out of the building. What you're supposed to do is freeze her with your super breath and encase her in ice that's a foot thick so the enemies shooting her don't hurt her. Scouting ahead and killing the enemies before she gets to them? No; the game screws you if you do that!* XanatosGambit: Even if you beat Lex, [[spoiler:he's still in the real world.]] [[KarmaHoudini LEX]] [[ShaggyDogStory WINS.]]* YouMakeMeSic:** "Can't you spell Lex Luthor?" Okay, now you're just trolling us, game.** The title itself. ''Aventures'' is French for Adventures. Titus Software is based in France.* ZeroEffortBoss: The final boss of the game, Brainiac, has no AI. He will fire a beam at you if you attack him with heat vision, but otherwise he stands still and allows you to kill him.